Should RTHK scrap the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award Presentation?

Kevin Kung, 15 Ying Wa College

No, I don't think so. RTHK has held the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award Presentation for the past 28 years and the public enjoy it.

Hong Kong has four main annual music award presentations. They are held by Commercial Radio, RTHK, TVB and Metro Radio. Some people think the presentations overlap and are too commercialised. In my view we should not treat music like a commercial product, but like one of the arts.

As a broadcasting channel funded by taxpayers, RTHK has a responsibility to promote the arts and provide entertainment. It exists to serve us, the Hong Kong people.

This year the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra won the prestigious Golden Needle Award, which shows that the event is not only for pop music but other, more sophisticated, types of music. The broad range the awards cover is another good reason why they should not be axed.

Although RTHK is a government department, the award presentation does not use up taxpayers' money. The costs are paid by charities and the proceeds from the admission tickets are donated to those charities. This helps a lot of people who are in need.

The channel's horse-racing programme was terminated in an attempt to discourage gambling. Likewise, if the music presentations were cancelled all it would achieve would be to stop people from listening to music. This makes no sense and I can't accept it.